Inmarsat joins autonomous ship project

Inmarsat’s role in the Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA), funded by Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (Tekes), is to provide the satellite communications link and platform, which is essential to remote control capability.

The initiative will build on existing ship-to-ship and ship-to-shore communication platforms and their effectiveness for supporting remote control functionality

“The launch of Inmarsat’s Global Xpress mobile broadband network, which forms the heart of the new Fleet Xpress service, is a real turning point for the future of the maritime industry and ideally lends itself to the AAWA Initiative,” said Ronald Spithout, president, Inmarsat Maritime.

Inmarsat’s Fleet Xpress service, delivered through the company’s Global Xpress and L-band constellations, is the world’s first hybrid Ka/L-band mobile satellite system, forms the basis of the system.

“Fleet Xpress will enable the ship-to-shore communications required to support the remote control functionality fundamental to the realisation of the autonomous ship. The high-performance, high-throughput network will open up unlimited possibilities for maritime applications and real-time monitoring and analysis of data, for smarter shipping today and the future,” Mr Spithout added.

Esa Jokioinen, head of Blue Ocean Team, Rolls-Royce, concluded: “The industry project will look at research carried out to date, before exploring the business case for autonomous applications, the safety and security implications of designing and operating remotely operated ships, the legal and regulatory implications and the existence and readiness of a supplier network able to deliver commercially applicable products in the short to medium term.

The Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative will run from 2015 to the end 2017.